Values are things that we value. Whilst not an exhaustive list, here are our some of our distinctive values:

1. A PEOPLE OF THE WORD AND THE SPIRIT
The Word: The early church ‘devoted themselves to the apostles teaching’ (Acts 2v42). Paul instructed his churches saying, ‘Devote yourself to the public reading of scripture, to preaching and teaching’ (1 Tim 4v13). So fundamental was the spread of the Word in the New Testament church, that Luke described the growth of the church in these terms: ‘The word of God kept on spreading’ (Acts 6:6,NASB); ‘The word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied’ (Acts 12:24. NASB); ‘So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing’ (Acts 19:20, NASB). Along with worship, the preaching of God’s Word is the primary ingredient in our Sunday meetings, and we set aside at least ½ hour for preaching from the Bible.

The Spirit: The early church was born through a powerful experience of the Spirit (Acts 2), and was a community that pulsated with the life of the Holy Spirit. The book of Acts records repeated instances of people being filled with, and operating in the power of the Holy Spirit, and Paul even defines the church as people being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit (Eph 2v22). To this end, we try to allow the Holy Spirit to lead our meetings, we eagerly desire the spiritual gifts, and have regular opportunities for being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Just Word and you dry up. Just Spirit and you blow up. Word and Spirit you grow up.

2. A PEOPLE OF GRACE
New comers often remark on the atmosphere of friendliness and loving acceptance. This flows directly from our theology of how grace – how God loves and accepts us.

Freely we have received: It is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast (Eph 2v8). Salvation is a free gift that you can’t earn. God’s love for you is complete, unchanging and unconditional. You are accepted just as you are, whether you do well or badly, sin or stay pure, you are completely accepted because the righteousness of Jesus has been given to you. You can’t improve on God’s love for you. You can’t reduce God’s love for you. God saved you and will keep you saved which frees you to joy, motivation and freedom to serve God out of gratitude and not out of fear!

Freely we give: As I have loved you, so you must love one another (Jn 13v34): So we now are empowered to accept one another unconditionally, not on the basis of performance, but on the basis of grace. Grace makes for a secure, free and joyful church of people who don’t need to wear masks to try and impress God or each other….because we are 100% accepted already!

3. A PEOPLE OF DIVERSITY
We are deeply committed to building a diverse church that includes many different cultures, languages and age groups, which is expressed in leadership, worship and in every area of our life together. This is not an attempt at being politically correct or a ‘rainbow nation’ – rather it stems from our theological conviction that diversity glorifies God more than uniformity:
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3v28) and “With your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Rev 5v9).

Did you see it? Who could make us all one – only Jesus! Who has the ability to be relevant to all nations – only Jesus! God is more glorified by diversity than by uniformity because it reveals His Lordship over ALL things! He is not just a western God, or an African God, or an old people’s God ……. Want evidence that Jesus is the true God over all nations?……just look at us!

 
4. A PEOPLE OF THE KINGDOM AND THE CHURCH
The Church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church (Eph 1v22 Message). We have a very high view of the Church, believing the radical claims of scripture that the Church is the reason for history and the climax of history (Rev 21v1-3). 

The Kingdom of God refers to God’s desire to reign in all areas of society, not just within the ‘four walls’ or the church. Within the kingdom, all callings are sacred and we are all in ‘full-time’ Christian work, being salt, light and yeast in the workplace.

The Vital Connection: Jesus taught that the Church holds the keys of the Kingdom (Mt 16) to open the way for the influence of God into homes, schools, business and government. To this end, we are committed to empowering believers to influence society with the values of the Kingdom.

5. FAITHFUL IN SERVING
This is a very high value in Godfirst, and has a direct impact on every member. Serving is a fundamental characteristic of the Christian life, and we take our lead from Jesus himself who did not come to be served, but rather to serve (Mt 20v28). We don’t just serve in order to get the job done, but rather to imitate Christ, to serve others, and to develop godly maturity.

The first words out of Paul’s mouth as he became a Christian were, ‘Lord, what wilt thou have me do?’ (Acts 9v6 KJV) not ‘Lord, how wilt thou bless me?’  This is the difference between consumers and contributors. At Godfirst we are all contributors understanding that ‘we are joined and knit together by what every joint supplies…as each part does its share (Eph 4v16 NKJ).

6. GIVEN TO EVANGELISM
According to Jesus’ commission in Matthew 28, the Church is supposed to be an outward looking full-on mission agency. He told us to go and make disciples….and to emphasis the point two-thirds of God’s name is Go! At Godfirst we are seriously focused on helping people become Christ followers. To keep evangelism high on our agenda we give ourselves to:
•    A steady drip of training to equip and stir ourselves to friendship evangelism.
•    Guarding against becoming so busy with church meetings that we do not have time to spend with our unsaved friends.
•    Ensuring that all we do as a church is inclusive of outsiders.
•    Continuously running a variety of events to give outsiders a positive first-touch with our church, such as Quiz Nights; Dinners; Carols.
•    Running events and courses that give people a chance to hear and respond to the gospel.

7. GIVEN TO THE NEXT GENERATION
The race that we are running is not an individual time trial; rather it is a relay race where success includes getting those behind us to the tape as well as ourselves. David cried out to God to spare him until he had succeeded in this saying, now also when I am old and gray-headed, O God do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation, your power to everyone who is to come (Ps 71v17). As Joshua found out, this does not happen automatically: Joshua died aged 110…after that another generation grew up who did not know the Lord (Jud 2v8f).
Whilst of course honouring the unique role of the nuclear family, we also feel a corporate responsibility for raising all the children in the church. To this end we try to have top-notch kids & youth departments, have our kids in with us for some worship on Sundays, be especially alert and helpful to single parent families, and generally place a high value on marriage and parenting.

 8. GIVEN TO HOSPITALITY
 The primary biblical metaphor for the church is a family, and we are passionate about protecting the family atmosphere of our church. The main gift that ensures this is that of hospitality - words, actions and attitudes of love and acceptance towards others. It involves opening our homes, but it extends to Sunday meetings, Life Groups and wherever we find ourselves.

Sunday Hospitality: Our Sunday venues and all that happens there is to be regarded as your very own home where you have invited a group of people to join you for a couple of hours on a Sunday. If everyone has the attitude ‘this is my home and these are my guests’ then everything else falls into place. So please arrive early and meet and greet people with a sense of responsibility. And don’t just sit and wait for the meeting to start, but rather circulate and engage with different people.

Home Hospitality: Inviting people into your home is so powerful. It sends an undeniable message that you are genuinely interested in them. Get on the front foot right away with friend-making!